Identification and realisation of the benefits of participating in an electronic marketplace : An interpretive evaluation approach

Electronic marketplaces have proliferated as use of the Internet has become widespread in business. A rapid growth in the number of marketplaces, followed by a period of stringent consolidation, as market makers develop a greater understanding of effective business models, has resulted in a climate of uncertainty and confusion. As with many aspects of e-commerce the drive towards participation is fuelled less by strategy planning than by a fear of lagging behind competitors or losing first mover advantage. In this climate of uncertainty organisations often bypass effective evaluation of the benefits that can be realised from participation in e-marketplaces, thereby exacerbating the process facing them and hampering effective decision-making. Evaluation is perceived as a fraught subject within the Information System field, and particularly within the business community which adheres to tried and trusted, albeit often inappropriate, methods such as financial or technical evaluation. The difficulties involved in effective evaluation of systems are well documented; these will increase as systems become more pervasive throughout organisations and those of their trading partners. Calls for a more holistic approach to evaluation are increasing, based on a developing appreciation of interpretive methods of research within the Information Systems discipline. However, the understanding that the social, political and cultural factors affecting and organisation have an impact on the uses and advantages of systems is by no means universal, and empirical evidence of this view is only slowly emerging. This research examines the benefits that can be realised from participation in an electronic marketplace by taking an interpretive approach to the evaluation. It examines the nature of electronic marketplaces to provide clarity to a confused and dynamic environment. The study then focuses on the development of evaluation studies within the IS discipline to identify how an effective evaluation method for assessing the benefits of e-marketplace participation can be achieved. An empirical examination of an organisation’s participation in an electronic marketplace is used to identify the benefits that are realisable and the issues that impact on them. The case study is conducted through an interpretive lens, using a content, context, process (CCP) approach based on existing IS literature. This enables a crucial understanding of the internal and external environments influencing the organisation and its realisation of potential benefits. To allow for the range of interpretations and reflections required to fully address the complexity of the issues involved in such a case study, a variety of research influences such as dialect hermeneutics, critical realism and case study theory are drawn into the research model. The case study organisation’s motivation for participating in an e-marketplace was primarily cost savings. Over the two years of the study, several more potential benefits were identified, such as supply chain efficiencies, greater market awareness and a widening of the supplier base. However, the organisation’s commitments to its local and regional communities, its need to retain status and some consideration of existing relationships needed to be balanced against the gains that might be realised. In some cases the organisation chose to forgo a potential benefit in favour of socially or politically motivated actions. Cultural factors also influenced their actions, particularly as they moved towards extending participation in the marketplace to gain from a global sourcing strategy. The contribution of this research lies in two areas. Firstly, it was existing evaluation literature to development a framework for the evaluation of benefits in the complex area of electronic marketplaces, thereby extending and informing the call for more inclusive and interpretive evaluation studies. Secondly, the research contributes empirical evidence to support the recognition of benefits to be gained from electronic marketplaces and shows how the realisation of the economic benefits is impacted by the social, political and cultural factors that influence an organisation

The Barriers and Benefits of the Electronic Marketplace Environment for SMEs

Although there are many initiatives to encourage SMEs online, not all have been successful. It may therefore seem premature to discuss electronic marketplaces in the context of SMEs. However, if SMEs ignore e-marketplaces a number of problems can result. E-marketplaces present a significant threat to SMEs since they increase competition and leave nonparticipants vulnerable to more e-enabled firms. This paper examines the barriers and benefits of e-marketplaces in the context of SMEs. It first addresses the nature of emarketplaces, before identifying the benefits that may be realisable by SMEs from participation. Drawing on the literature, the barriers facing smaller firms in this environment are discussed. Identification of these barriers, such as lack of standards, supply chain integration and global trading, enables a greater understanding of how SMEs can plan effective strategies to gain from e-marketplace participation

Assessing the success and evaluating the benefits of government-sponsored regional internet-trading platforms for small and medium enterprises: A Western Australian perspective

The Internet has been viewed as an opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to efficiently compete in the global arena with their larger counterparts by overcoming distance and size. However, research has shown that actual uptake of Internet e-commerce by SMEs has been lagging behind that of larger companies. Fearing a growing digital divide between large companies and SMEs, some governments have taken specific measures to encourage SME participation in ecommerce. One of the more direct government initiatives to hasten the progression of SMEs on the e-commerce adoption curve is the creation, sponsorship and management of regional Internet trading platforms for these enterprises. Such a move is predicated on the belief that these platforms will offer SMEs a low-cost introduction to participation in Internet trading platforms without the need for significant technology investments, allowing them to reap benefits like lower costs, improved customer service and new levels of innovation through knowledge-sharing

Critical success criteria for B2B E-commerce systems in Chinese medical supply chain.

The paper presents an exploratory investigation to determine and prioritise the critical success criteria, which can measure and guide the successful application and performance improvement of business to business e-commerce system (BBECS) in a medical supply chain's selling and buying functions, in the context of global business expansion. The research reveals that the buying and the selling functions have different prioritisations on the majority of the determined critical success measuring criteria. These criteria are categorised into three Critical Success Measuring Criteria Groups, for the selling and the buying functions, respectively, guiding medical supply chain members in harnessing the full advantage of a BBECS. For the selling function, the top critical success measuring criteria are as follows: integrating information searching/transmission and application processes, ensuring the reliability and timeliness of technical support, ensuring recognition and acceptance of e-commerce processes, displaying the organisation's business focus and product/service provisions online, securing a large scale/amount of business transactions, adjusting production outputs and inventory levels and having more registered users than competitors do. The top critical success measuring criteria for the buying function are as follows: securing the establishment of business relationships between businesses, displaying the measures ensuring mutual trust and cooperation online, ensuring employees' recognition of the benefit of e-commerce in increasing revenue, ensuring the contribution to the development and realisation of corporate strategy, achieving cost reduction for the organisation, making the purchase of famous brand products available/doable, securing a large scale/amount of business transactions, and ensuring the attainability of products/services at a lower price

Purchasing consortia and electronic markets:a procurement direction in integrated supply chain management

In supply chain management literature, there has been little empirical research investigation on purchasing consortium issues focusing on a detailed analysis of information and communication (ICT) based procurement strategies. Based on the exploration of academic literature and two surveys among purchasing organisations as well as e-Marketplaces / procurement service providers (PSPs) in the automotive and electronics industry sectors, the research methodology follows a positivistic approach in order to assess the overall statement: ‘Effective participation in electronic purchasing consortia (EPC) can have the potential to enhance competitive advantage. Implementation therefore requires a clear and detailed understanding of the major process structures and drivers, based upon thetechnology-organisation-environment framework.’ Key factors and structures that affect the adoption and diffusion of EPC and the performance impact of adoption are investigated. The empirically derived model for EPC can be a valuable starting point to EPC research

The role of e-procurement in purchasing management

This exposition summarises research published in several academic articles, in order to meet the requirements of PhD by publication. The focus of the work is on the role of electronic procurement in management of the purchasing function. From the late 1990s a number of independent e-procurement mechanisms were launched which offered potential benefits such as increased order accuracy, transaction efficiency and greater integration between trading partners. At the outset of this programme of research, e-procurement was therefore an emerging phenomenon with little academic research and presented an opportunity to investigate a largely unexplored area. Edmondson and McManus (2007) suggest that for nascent, as opposed to mature areas of research, where few formal constructs or measures exist, an exploratory, qualitative approach is required. This research followed such an approach through the use of case studies, involving observation, participation and interviews with key organisational actors. Each paper makes use of several cases in order to compare and contrast results from different organisations and to draw conclusions from multi-case analysis. The published articles focus on the impact of core applications within e-procurement, including online reverse auctions, electronic marketplaces, online catalogue sites, and buying systems covering the ‘requisition to pay’ cycle. The findings from the papers address a number of core themes in purchasing management. In considering buyer-supplier relationships, it was observed that such dyads are driven by traditional buyer negotiation factors such as segmentation, power and price and that use of eprocurement applications tended to enforce such traditional behaviours. In relation to the potential for integration, the study found that integration between firms was barely affected, as the concept of integration was neither an objective nor a business case driver for e-procurement adoption. This situation reflects the finding that procurement managers pursue functional targets rather than supply chain-level objectives. However, other significant effects from e-procurement adoption were noted such as the tendency by buyers to reduce supplier numbers and a move to re-engineer the procurement function in buying firms, through automating transactional processes. The research finds that e-procurement does not have a deterministic impact on purchasing management, and that it acts as an enabler to more effective management of the function though the way its different mechanisms are deployed. The exposition establishes that e-procurement is used in relation to supply conditions which are characterised by both ‘markets’ and ‘hierarchies’, but that it is the predefined purchasing strategy of the firm, rather than available technology solutions, which determines when markets and hierarchies are used. Additionally, an original model is introduced, focusing on developing an e-procurement policy which can support strategic purchasing goals. This model extrapolates findings from stages in the research, and marries together elements from various papers and frameworks therein, to produce some guidelines for adoption of this technology

Purchasing Consortia and Electronic Markets: a Procurement Direction in Integrated Supply Chain Management

In supply chain management literature, there has been little empirical research investigation on purchasing consortium issues focusing on a detailed analysis of information and communication (ICT) based procurement strategies. Based on the exploration of academic literature and two surveys among purchasing organisations as well as e-Marketplaces / procurement service providers (PSPs) in the automotive and electronics industry sectors, the research methodology follows a positivistic approach in order to assess the overall statement: ‘Effective participation in electronic purchasing consortia (EPC) can have the potential to enhance competitive advantage. Implementation therefore requires a clear and detailed understanding of the major process structures and drivers, based upon thetechnology-organisation-environment framework.’ Key factors and structures that affect the adoption and diffusion of EPC and the performance impact of adoption are investigated. The empirically derived model for EPC can be a valuable starting point to EPC research

Exploring The Antecedents Of Successful E-business Implementations Through ERP : A Longitudinal Study of SAP-based Organisations 1999-2003

This research was carried out between 1999 and 2003 on the use of e-business applications in ERP-based organisations. A composite research method based on structured case studies was developed for this study. It combined the application of case methods by Carroll et al. (1998], Klein and Myer (1998), and Eisenhardt (1989). This was used to provide a focused, yet flexible structure, as a dynamic approach to case study interpretive research. The research method used three distinct models at three progressive stages of the study, to provide a multi-faceted view of each case. This composite case-based method was developed to maintain the balance between research rigour and relevance. A pilot case study of nine Australian SAP sites helped ground the theory of the study. This was followed by three stages of study of eleven international cases within a diverse industry context. The method revealed the antecedents of e-business success using the findings from case analyses against three separate research models B2B interaction, e-business change, and virtual organising. A final conceptual framework was developed as new theory of e-business transformation. The theory views e-business transformation as realising the benefits from virtual organising within complex B2B interactions by utilising the facilitators of successful e-business change. The research demonstrates that successful e-business transformation with ERP occurs when value propositions are realised through integration and differentiation of technologies used to support new business models to deliver products and services online. The associated management practice evolves through efficiency from self-service, effectiveness through empowerment towards customer care, and value enhancement from extensive relationship building with multiple alliances. The new theory of e-business transformation identifies the stages of e-business growth and development as a comprehensive plan that should assist managers of ERP-based organisations in migrating their company towards a successful e-business organisation. The detailed analysis of the findings offers a foundational per11pectlve of strategies, tactics and performance objectives for e-ERP implementations. The strength of the theory lies in the synthesis of multiple case analyses using three different lenses over three separate time periods. The triangulation of the three research frameworks provides a method for study at appropriate levels of complexity. It is evolutionary in nature and is content driven. Other researchers are urged to apply similar multi-viewed analysis

Prospects and Challenges of E-Procurement in Some Selected Public Institutions in Ghana

This paper sought to investigate the prospects and challenges associated with the adoption of e-procurement in some selected public institutions in Ghana. Current literature on Public Procurement indicates a paradigm shift towards adoption of new technologies in Supply Chain processes that include e-procurement. The level of public sector response is influenced by various factors posing challenges to the adoption of e-procurement. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) was used as the case area; a sample size of 48 comprising of three respondents each were randomly sampled from the procurement departments of 16 Public institutions directly under the MoF. The research paper used a questionnaire as a key instrument for primary data collection. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests was conducted. From the study, it was revealed that employee competency, inadequate legal framework, inadequate technological infrastructure and security of procurement transaction data were challenges to e-Procurement adoption in the organizations under review. The paper recommends among others that due to continuous turnover of employees, continuous training for incoming staff is required on e-Procurement. In addition, formal recognition backed by legislation of the electronic procurement transactions should be encouraged. Integration of the institutions system and those of the suppliers, demonstration of the positive impact of the system, and installation of linkages between all Governments agencies should be encouraged Keywords: e-Procurement, Public Institutions, Ghana, Ministry of Finance, Adoption

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse